July 4, 2016 Volume xxi, #27

“When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.”
—Jane Fonda (American actor, writer, and political activist, 1937- )

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Lowe’s latest store opens in Toronto’s East End

• Federated Co-op helps bring the colour back to Fort Mac

• Ace continues to add stores in Canada

• Reno intentions down as spending rises

• PLUS: Distribution Rioux joins TIMBER MART, Home Hardware Charity Golf, Trottman retires from K&V, Tappenden tapped for top job at Walmart Canada, Lyne Castonguay casts off for Sobeys —and more!
  
  

  Happy Canada Day to all our Faithful Subscribers across this great country. And for our growing ranks of American subscribers, happy Fourth of July! —The Hardlines Team

Lowe’s latest store opens in Toronto’s East End

TORONTO — Lowe’s Canada opened its sixth store in Toronto, and its 45th nationwide, last Thursday. The store is one of a dozen former Target locations that Lowe’s acquired in July 2015, and reflects the company’s efforts to fit the Lowe’s footprint into a slightly smaller store size, with less than 90,000 square feet of retail.

The store features 40,000 SKUs in 20 product categories, including a wide array of heavy appliances that features some very high-end price points. One Bosch oven was priced at $6,000. Another category here is furniture, a category Lowe’s is expected to grow further.

As part of the board-cutting ceremony at the grand opening, Lowe’s Canada donated $10,000 to a local charity, Neighbourhood Link Support Services.

Federated Co-op helps bring the colour back to Fort Mac

SASKATOON — The effort to help Fort McMurray residents rebuild their homes and community has received a colourful boost from Federated Co-operatives Limited. FCL has donated 400 cans of paint to restore buildings that were damaged or are being rebuilt.

“Co-op is fundamentally committed to serving and caring for Western Canadian communities—it’s part of our identity,” said Ron Healey, associate vice-president, Ag and Home (shown here with Tony Steier, FCL’s director Home and Building Supplies; and Grant Wicks, general manager of Saskatoon Co-op). “We’re glad that we can play a small part in helping Fort McMurray, a community in need right now, with resources and encouragement so that it can thrive again.”

The donation was made at the Saskatoon Co-op Home Centre on Circle Drive. To celebrate the donation, representatives from FCL, Saskatoon Co-op, and the mayor of Saskatoon began painting a mural and writing messages of encouragement to Fort McMurray. Saskatoon residents are being invited to help paint the mural and send their own messages throughout the week. “Most people in Western Canada have a connection with Fort McMurray through friends or family. I believe we are all looking for an opportunity to provide support to that community,” said Grant Wicks, general manager of Saskatoon Co-op.

The mural and messages will be applied to the semi-trailer that delivers the paint donation. The trailer will also make stops at Co-op home centres in North Battleford, Sask., Stony Plain, Alta., and St. Paul, Alta., this summer. Residents of those communities will be able to complete the painting and send messages from their communities to Fort McMurray.

This is the first donation made from the new Co-op Communities in Full Colour program. Through this program, more than $400,000 worth of Co-op paint will be donated annually to community projects. Local community groups can apply for a paint donation at their local Co-op home centre.

Ace continues to add stores in Canada

WINNIPEG — Ace Canada continues to gain ground with independent dealers across the country. Two more stores have celebrated grand openings in recent weeks.

In Grand Valley, Ont., a 2,600-square-foot store, formerly a Home Hardware location, has been re-branded as Ace. The owners, Tania and Ralph Scheiwiller, carry a wide range of products, including paint, lawn and garden, hardware, electrical, plumbing, automotive, and home décor, as well as niche products such as housewares, farm, and higher-end pet food and supplies.

(Meanwhile, the Home Hardware business in Grand Valley has reopened under new ownership in a new location, with 4,100 square feet of space. Dealer-owners Terri, Scott, and Corrine Arthurs also run another business in town, Arthurs Fuel.)

A 4,000-square-foot Ace Building Centre opened on June 16 in Mackenzie, B.C., two hours north of Prince George. Victory Ace Building Centre is owned by Sylvain and Marilyne Laferriere. “Marilyne, the staff, and I have been extremely busy with the changes, installing a new banner, learning a new POS system, learning what is available with the Ace Canada organization … all during the busiest time of year,” said Sylvain Laferriere.

“Having the support of the Ace team has been fantastic, as well as from Dick’s Lumber.” Dick’s, RONA’s contractor yard in the Lower Mainland, supplies all the LBM for Ace and RONA stores in the region.

Ace Hardware, licensed here by Lowe’s Canada, now has close to 70 stores flying the banner. It is managed out of Lowe’s Ace Canada facility in Winnipeg.

Reno intentions down as spending rises

TORONTO ― The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has reported that the housing market is in the grip of “gridlock”, with homeowners looking for new homes but hamstrung by a lack of affordable options.

In this climate, the Financial Post reports, home improvement spending rises, yet most is currently directed at landscaping, which adds little to home values. “The shift in focus from indoors to outdoors is surprising,” said Barry Gollom, CIBC’s VP of mortgages and lending.

Independently, Altus Group has found that renovation spending in 2014 exceeded investment in new homes by $20 billion, and the amount is expected to continue growing this year, a forecast backed up by the CIBC data.

Meanwhile, retail sales for the country bear out strong performance for the year so far. Total Canadian retail sales grew 6.1% year-over-year in April on a not seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. For the first four months of 2016, retail was up 5.8%, marking the strongest start to a year since 2010.

And that the rebound in retail sales trends is fairly widespread. Sales for building material and garden equipment/supplies category were up 10.3% for April, and up 10.5% for the first four months of the year. The sector enjoyed a healthy year-over-year increase of 7.6%.

While the numbers look good, retail consultant Ed Strapagiel is taking a more sombre view. “Spikes in retail sales growth typically come back down to earth in a few months, so enjoy it while you can,” he cautions. “There’s little on the economic front that suggests this level of retail sales growth is sustainable.”

DID YOU KNOW…?

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RETAILER NEWS

VAUGHAN, Ont. — After expanding last year, Distribution Rioux is becoming the newest member of TIMBER MART. “In the last year, we’ve grown from a single location in Notre-Dame-du-Lac to two, with our recent purchase of a 2,800-square-foot store and two warehouses totaling 3,600 square feet in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!,” says owner Guy Rioux. “We were looking for a buying group that could support our growth and chose TIMBER MART because of the solid reputation they have in the LBM industry.” Since 2009, Distribution Rioux has been providing contractors and homeowners in the Témiscouata region with lumber, moulding, and sheet-metal products. The two stores have a combined staff of almost 50.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. ― Some 600 Home Hardware Dealer-Owners, staff, suppliers, and friends teed up for charity last week at the Home Hardware Annual Charity Golf Tournament in support of Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington. Golfers hit the links at four courses across southwestern Ontario’s Waterloo Region, including Elmira Golf Club, Grey Silo Golf Club, Rebel Creek Golf Club, and Whistle Bear Golf Club. Following the tournament, golfers attended a dinner at Bingemans Conference Centre with a silent auction of over 80 items donated by Home Hardware and its suppliers and partners. Last year, more than $45,000 was raised through the tournament and silent auction.

PERTH, Australia ― A price war in the British DIY market could put a wrench in Bunnings’ intended “everyday low prices” model, The Australian reports. A report by British retail consultants mdj2 suggests a trend toward compressing price margins, leaving less room for differentiation among competitors.  “Homebase generates a major part of its revenues from showroom categories that are notoriously difficult to move to an [everyday low price] approach when customers are used to constant ‘50 per cent off’ promotions,” the report states. Bunnings parent Wesfarmers bought the struggling Homebase chain for $704 million this year and plans to spend up to $1 billion converting its stores to the Bunnings banner.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Mike Trottman, vice president - retail sales for Knape & Vogt, has announced his retirement effective June 30. His 46-year career spans numerous sales and marketing positions with Global Home Products, MCS Industries, Newell Rubbermaid, Spalding, lntercraft Industries Canada Inc., and the past decade with Knape & Vogt. Trottman’s career includes serving on the board of the Canadian Housewares Hardware Manufacturers Association, Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores, Canadian Special Olympics Festival, General Merchandise Distributors Council, and the Hardware Marketing Council. Jon Elordi is joining Knape & Vogt to fill Trottman’s role. Elordi has served in senior sales and general management roles with Helen of Troy, The Holmes Group, iRobot, and Jarden. Most recently he was EVP of sales for Lifefactory in Sausalito, Calif.

At Walmart Canada, COO Lee Tappenden has been promoted to the top job. His new role as president and CEO takes effect August 15. Tappenden joined Walmart in 1996 and has held a number of roles within the company, including chief merchandising officer with Walmart Japan and vice president of merchandising for the International Division. He joined Walmart Canada in 2010 as SVP, merchandise operations, and then as chief merchandising officer. Tappenden will report to David Cheesewright, president and CEO of Walmart International. Also: Bob Hakeem, chief administrative officer for Walmart Canada will take over Tappenden’s job as COO. He was formerly EVP, human resources.

Lyne Castonguay has resigned from Home Depot in the U.S., where she had served as senior vice president of home services. Now she’s back in Canada, at Sobeys Inc. as chief merchandising officer. There, she will oversee all aspects of the grocery retailer’s go-to-market strategy, with responsibility for category management, marketing, data insights, research, procurement, private label, and merchandising, as well as the company's digital strategy. At Home Depot, Castonguay has been replaced by Kelly Barrett as senior vice president of home services. Barrett will oversee the strategy for Home Depot’s home services business, including in-home sales and installation, operations, customer contact centres, as well as contractor sourcing, and compliance. In addition, Kelly is responsible for revenue and profitability for four Home Depot subsidiary businesses: HD Interiors, Home Renovations Services, HD Measurement Services, and HD Exteriors.

OVERHEARD…
“Tania and her team’s excellent customer service skills are the strength of the store, truly capturing the strength of the brand as the helpful place.”
—Guy Lichter, director, Ace Programs, for Ace Canada, on the opening of a new store in Grand Valley, Ont., recently.

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